Coping with the agricultural revolution

 With the persistent scarcity and cost of agricultural produce in Nigeria, one may wonder whether there is any step by government to address the incident. The ugly condition at which food consumers are confronting is something that has left many unanswered questions on when and how will this problem be solved. It is however not […]

 With the persistent scarcity and cost of agricultural produce in Nigeria, one may wonder whether there is any step by government to address the incident. The ugly condition at which food consumers are confronting is something that has left many unanswered questions on when and how will this problem be solved.

It is however not news that the current government of President Muhammadu Buhari and his All Progressive  Congress APC governments at the state levels have vowed to resuscitate the ailing health of agriculture since it came to power in May 2015. This, to its ideology, will rapidly boost the nation’s economy and create jobs for the unemployed persons in the country. Not only that but also to ensure that food security is guaranteed for its over one hundred and eighty million citizens. 

In this regards, the Nigerian economy will be diversified to ease the pressure on the one commodity market-petroleum. Since then the nation’s land borders remained closed to importation of some certain agricultural products including rice and frozen foods.

The excruciating effect of the ban now results in declined productivity, hunger and by extension, poverty. This has however led to lost of hope and trust in the current government that was overwhelmingly voted to power. Calls by many and sundry to lift the ban has remained barren.

One of such controversies was that of the sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Sa’ad Abubakar III. It was a juxtaposed visit that Colonel Hameed Ali (retd), Comptroller General of the Nigerian Custom Service was in Sokoto to sensitize the people on need to support the policies of government at all levels. But his aim suddenly varied with that of the Sultan who affirmed that the order for rice ban has brought untold hardship to the Nigerian masses as it has aggravated scarcity of the commodity in the country. 

However, how would the government tackle the problem of agriculture to solve the issue of food scarcity and its skyrocketing prices are many questions to address. Or how many youths that constitute the chunky percent of the unemployed would be attracted to go into agricultural business? 

These questions to a large extent are logical looking at the system and incentives availed to the Nigerian farmer. Apart from these, is a plethora of problems that has sacrificed the image of agriculture at the altar of the black gold. 

First and famous is the stiffness of the credit facilities process. It has being a culture that farmers are made to undergo degree of hardship before reaching the loans meant for them. Some of these are the collateral often demanded by some banks. Evidence of electricity bills, identity cards among others are indispensable. These at times are tedious to the rural farmers who made up the largest population of the farming society. Hence, how could one ask a farmer to produce electricity bill payment when most villages are not electrified? And how could he has collateral when his farming system is only for hand to mouth? What about special identity cards? This moreover is traceable to another problem; that is information. 

There are no proper channels of communication between the government and farmers in the rural areas. Thus, the idea of identity cards is alien to many. The case of National Identity card is the worst. Many people do not know their usage. And for the few who know, registration centers are not sufficient. In the rural areas they are not seen. This therefore kills the morale of the farmer in terms of loan processing. 

Secondly, is the delay witness by farmers before the loan materializes. It is unarguable that the 2017 budget could not be signed into law till June 2017. By then the farming season has gone far. Thus, that serves as a setback to the farmer who needs help at the beginning of the rainy season to enable him launch vigorously into the season. But sad enough is that most of the credit facilities often come at the tail of the season when every serious farmer is awaiting harvest. 

Furthermore, the machinery at the disposal of the farmers are nothing to write home about.  Their cost are not to mention. Moreover the available ones for hiring are not sufficient thereby increasing the cost of hiring. 

The debilitating factor affecting agriculture are not new and thus remain acute. Some are poor marketing system, storage facilities and access roads. While others includes access to improved seeds, cost of chemicals and fertilizers and the recurrent clashes between cattle breeders and crop farmers. There is no doubt that these problems are still real and visible in the current agricultural revolution in Nigeria. And as such have continued to serve repetitive questions on how and when will the APC government tackle them to achieve its food security mantra.

Therefore, it is a clarion call on the government to urgently address these by ameliorating the stress in accessing credit facilities. The issue of collateral should be struck out in this process. And there should be proper means of communication between the government and the rural farmers. This is feasible with the use of traditional rulers and religious leaders in enlightening them on government policies and actions. This is due to the fact that most of the conventional news media are urban oriented as such fail to carry the rural dwellers along. 

Also, budget should always be passed and signed before the end of every December to provide loan for both dry and rainy season farmer. On this, the CBN Anchor Borrowers Programme  should be well monitored to ensure that what is planned in the budget gets to the targeted farmer as at when due. 

The issue of subsidy to farm implements should not be jettisoned at the expense of economic down turn. There should be adequate funds set out by government to subsidize every cost of farm implements and inputs. Chemicals, seeds and fertilizers that are now beyond the reach of many should all be subsidized. And mechanized equipment should be made available  at subsidized rate for intending buyers and hirers. In so doing, the glory of agriculture would be restored to boost her economy, provide jobs and ensure food security for the nation.

Isaac B.Bahago, a freelance journalist wrote from Minna 08073372057 [email protected].